Worry comes when we try to control things that are actually out of our control.
Photo by Derek Owens on Unsplash
Far too often, the humanistic response to that is to become a control freak. The proper spiritual response to handling things that are out of our control is to relinquish control of the situation, people, and problems to God. You’ve heard people say, “Let go and let God,” right? That’s a timeless truth about how best to handle the stresses of life.
We eliminate existential stress by understanding and agreeing that what is true is absolutely true because truth is absolute, not flexible and subject to conditions or feelings. The next step is to begin with an internal world view based on the truth that God is real and so is the devil and demons. We must arrive at the conclusion that all things good are from God and all evil originates from the devil. All things come from a person. The presence of evil is personified in a real devil (Satan) and demons who live and move and have every inclination toward our destruction and demise while God’s every inclination toward us is to bless us and to provide for us all we need for life and Godliness.
This world is our one and only place of determining where we choose to spend eternity by 1.) following the devil or 2.) following Jesus Christ. The default for sinful humanity (those who reject Jesus as their Savior) is to remain in spiritual relationship with Satan and receive in the next life the exact same Hell he receives. For all who choose to follow Jesus, we receive the glorious resurrection in Heaven Jesus received when He laid down His life for us all. (This fact should settle you into understanding there are not many choices, but one, ultimate decision we must make and every other decision is secondary to that.)
Our souls were not meant to carry the mind-bending and heart-rending stresses many people lug around on a daily basis. God gave each one of us a particular ability to manage stress and it is clear that some can do it better than others. This proclivity hinges on our personality and is a response to the information around us, our dissemination of it, and accurate and useful processing of it. It is of great importance that we accumulate information and wisdom about the world and our place in it so we can be best prepared to categorize stressors and allow Jesus to take care of them until we are so united in spirit with God that we live out of His goodness, grace, and directions on a step-by-step basis and our life becomes spiritually effortless and continuously blessed no matter the circumstances.
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”
God is always faithful to us. We must choose, individually, to remain faithful to God through every scenario regardless the situation or possible outcome. As a Christian, we are in a blood covenant, so we are to remain faithful to Him as He is to us. That is the ultimate goal of a Christian — to be so filled with the Holy Spirit that we (He and I/you) become “one flesh” like a married couple in a healthy marriage.
Do you think God worries? If you were the King/Creator of the Universe, what would there be to worry about? You would design everything in such a way that you are always on top no matter the outcome, right? Yet God chose to remain vulnerable by giving us Free Will to determine for ourselves what is right and what is wrong; even many times when the right seems the wrong thing to do and vice versa!
People ask, “Why would God have created a universe where He knew mankind would rebel against Him?” You see, God is not a control freak. Everything is ultimately in His control. He absolutely knew mankind would rebel against Him. For Pete’s sake — we already had in Heaven! He is our Creator, right? He lives in Heaven. We do not. Follow me here. If He is our Creator and He lives in Heaven and we do not, that means we were in Heaven as created spirit beings (of some sort) and were thrust out of Heaven {keep reading} to Earth where we are now, given a second chance to make the correct choice or forever forfeit that opportunity and remain faithful to Satan - who also rebelled against God in Heaven.
Imagine having children who decided to rebel against you and they wanted to leave you even though you had done literally everything for them. You would consider them ungrateful rebels, wouldn’t you? What if Heaven was the only place there was. Now you have to MAKE A PLACE for them to go since they don’t want to live with you anymore, so you make a brand new universe and make it JUST LIKE Heaven because you know, deep down, that they truly loved home, but they just wanted to “find themselves.” As a good parent, you would let them know you would never, ever leave their lives completely, and if they ever chose to return home, because you love them with a perfect, never-ending love, you let them know you are willing to forgive them their rebellion and reinstate them to their proper place at home if 1.) they apologized and repented of their rebellion and 2.) if they are willing to PAY their outstanding DEBTS for the trouble they caused and make AMENDS for how their rebellion hurt you, themselves, and others.
Knowing the meaning of life makes being a control freak seem silly, doesn’t it? Hand your worries over to Jesus and let Him have control.
Prayer
Father God, now that I have a clear understanding of the meaning of life, please let me know what I must do next. Take me by the hand and show me around Your awesome Creation. You made me unique and special and just what the world needs for this time in history. You are perfect and Your plans are perfect. Thank You, my Father, for being so good, loving, and gracious to me even though I have done so many things that harmed so many people including You. Help me daily reject the old, sinful me and metamorphose, like a butterfly, into the person You made me to be. You don’t want me to have depression, so I choose today to allow You to do whatever it takes to eliminate it from my life. Help me know what to do, by Your Holy Spirit, in every situation so I can continue to draw closer to You in trust, love, and joy. In Jesus’ holy name, amen.